Originally Posted by
RAT 5
Msb. That is the best focused point of view that the enlightened have iterated on here many times.
Thank you very much.
I have spent a lifetime developing a range of specialised radio systems, and that has taught me that radio is too vulnerable to be completely relied upon.
It horrifies me when I see systems where people have assumed it is dependable. It isn't. Even if you duplicate equipment there is only one spectrum, and the behaviour of that is out of the system designer's control.
I see an increasing reliance on automation in aviation as increasing dependency on the associated radio systems and everything that lies behind them. Yet I hear nothing about making them more reliable. How can the regulators permit that!?!?
And look what can happen when they're not working (SFO?).
Of course I can't put any numbers to reliability, etc. This kind of trend changes risk characteristics. Instead of having airliners crash now and then, we now have a situation where they seemingly crash less often. However a few small failures or interference guarantees that lots will be at severe risk of crashing all on the same day.